The Irony of Greek Protests

Greek public unions are staging what has been called "the mother of all protests", grinding the economy to a halt and cutting off public services.  Protesters are standing opposed to job and wage cuts in addition to severe restrictions to collective bargaining proposed by the government.  But could the protesters be the ones to blame for Greek economic and budget woes?

Under pressure from unions, Greece has spent and borrowed too much money for decades.  One economist from the University of Piraeus says restricting unions could help open up the economy at this crucial time.  He notes, "[unions] haven't done much to promote economic growth or competitiveness... you can point to quite a lot of things they've done to get us into the problem."

So now is the time for Greek reckoning.  In order to raise revenues and reduce costs, the government has begun privatization of state assets and reorganization of pensions.  These moves are a prerequisite to secure an E.U. loan negotiated by France and Germany.  Prime Minister George Papandreou is frantically whipping votes to approve new austerity measures, as many lawmakers aren't locked down in support of the package.

What makes this story so precious is that the Greek Prime Minister and majority party in Parliament all belong to the Socialist Party, which was swept into power in 2008.  How uncomfortable it must feel to Greek Socialists to be the ones urging deep cuts in benefits, privatization of assets and restriction to collective bargaining.

This is the price of glutonous mobsters holding government hostage in the name of worker rights.